Portable grandstand



June 23, 1942. R. w. PAGE Er A1.

PORTABLE enANnsTAND Filed July 29, 194o 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 June 23, 1942. R. w. PAGE ETAL 2,287,561

PORTABLE GRANDSTAND Filed July 29, 1940 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 JDM 23 1942- R. w. PAGE Erm. 2337551 PORTABLE GRANns'TANp Filed July 29, 1940 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 'Patented June v23, 1942 PORTABLE GRANDSTAND Richard W. Page and John F. Roney, Hollywood, Calif.

Application July 2,9, 1940, Serial No. 348,084

v(Cl;"`189-.?.)

Claims.

stand or bleacher that can be built to any desired y height.

Portable bleachers and grandstands heretofore devised have been constructed to be used for a certain predetermined height and are not adapted to have sections added in height to increase the seating capacity.

One object of the present invention is to devise a grandstand or bleacher construction which can be increased in height at will by the addition of sections thereto.

Another object is to devise a grandstand or bleacher which will be strong and rigid.

A further object is to devise a grandstand or bleacher which may be erected easily and quickly.

A further object is to devise a bleacher or grandstand in which the danger of collapse is reduced to a minimum.

A further object is to devise a portable bleacher in which the main load bearing elements are'in pure compression.

Other objects will be apparent from the following description.

In the drawings:

Fig. 1 is a .side elevational view of a portable grandstand or bleacher embodying the present invention;

Figs, 2, 3 and lare cross-sections on the lines 2 2, 3-'-3, and 4-4 respectively, of Fig. 1, looking in the directions of the arrows;

Fig. 5 is a cross-section on the line 5-5 of Figs. 2, 3 and 4, looking in the direction of the arrows;

Fig.,6 is a side elevational view similar to Fig. 1, but showing the grandstand or bleacher built to a greater height; and

Fig. 7 is a perspective view of a complete grandstand or bleacher unit.

Referring to the drawings, in which like numerals indicate like parts throughout the several views, the grandstand or bleacher is composed of three separate types of frames, lettered A, B and C, and through the proper use of the three frames a portable grandstand may be built to any height.

As shown, the frame A is made of tubular material and comprises two seating levels. Referring to Fig. 1 it will be' seen that the frame A comprises a forward vertical tubular post I0, a central tubular post II and a rearward tubular post I2 of approximately the combined heights of the posts I0 and 'II. The post I0 and the post I2 are connected at the lower ends thereof -allel to the brace 26-2I.

by va horizontal tubular brace I4, while the top of the post I0 is connected to approximately the center of the rear post I2 by a horizontal tubular support I5. The post II is integrally connected to the center of the support I5 and extends vertically. parallel to the post I2. The top portions of the posts II and I2 are joined by a second horizontal support'IB which is integrally connected between the posts.

A plurality of stlffehing braces I1 join the brace I4 and the support I5 to transmit stress therebetween.'

The frame B, as shown in Fig. 1, has four seating levels, and comprises a forward post 2|, having a connector 20, a center post 23-,2, and a rear post 25. The forward post 2|, the center post 23 and the rear post 25 are connected adjacent the lower ends by a lower brace 26-21 and are connected adjacent the top of the forward post 2l by a support 28 which extends par- A post 30 is fixed to the center of the forward hal-f of the support 28 and extends vertically to a point midway between the top of the post 2| and the top of the post 24. A horizontal support 32 is xed between the top of the post 30 and the center of the post 24 and forms the second level for planking, the first level being formed by the forward quarter of the horizontal support 28. A rear central post 34 is fixed to the center of the rear half of the support 28 and extends vertically to the same elevation as the top of the post 25.

A second horizontal support 35 joins the top -of the post 24 with the post 3S and forms the third level for planking. The fourth planking level is formed by a third horizontal support 43l extending vand fixed between the tops of the posts 34 and' 25. Suitable shear braces 39 and Ml stiffen the frame B and form it into a rigid integral unit.

The forward ends of the frames B are joined to the rear of the frames A by pins 25. The pins 45 (Fig. 5) are of such diameter as to fit snugly within the posts I2 of the -frame A and the connectors 20 of frame B, and have a collar 46 xed thereon which is engageable with the top of the post I2 and the bottom of the connector 20, e

A U-shaped guide 88 is welded to the lower portionof the post I2 and has the open ends engageable with the lower end of the posts 2| to maintain the frames A and B in the same plane.

The frame C is used in connection with the frames A and B in a manner set forth below to build the grandstand to any desired height. The

frame C is-preferably a standard scaiold unit of the type more fully described and set forth in the U. S. patent to Reinhold A. Uecker, Patent No. 2,043,498, issued June 9, 1936.

The frame C is made the same height as the post 25 of the frame B and is adapted to support the posts of either the frames A or B through pin couplings 45 heretofore described.

To construct a grandstand or bleacher two sets oi frames are placed parallel to and spaced from each other, as best seen in Fig. 7, and are connected by cross braces 50 which are joined to the frames B and C through bolts 52 Welded on the frames B and C. The cross braces 50 are connected together adjacent their centers by pivots 54 in a manner described in the aforesaid Uecker patent.

Planking is laid on the supports l5, I6, 28, 32, 35 and 31 and chairs placed on the planks to complete the structure.

In order to convert the grandstand into a bleacher construction a removable 4bracket 5B may be added at will. This bracket will be more fully described and claimed in a co-pending application of Uecker, Beatty and Oertle, Serial No. 350,850 filed Aug. 3, 1940.

Having thus described the invention it will be realized that it is susceptible to various changes and modifications and it is not desired to limit the invention to the precise form herein shown and described but only by the scope of the appended claims.

The invention is hereby claimed as follows:

l. In a grandstand of the character described, a rst unitary rigid frame comprising a front post, a rear post, said rear post being substantially longer than said front post, and a step construction joining said posts, a second unitary rigid frame having a front post, a rear post, said rear post being substantially longer than said front post, and a step construction joining said second front post with said second rear post, the rear post of said first frame and the front post of said second frame being positioned adjacent to each other, and means to connect the upper end of said rst named rear post with the second named front post.

2. In a grandstand of the character described, a first unitary rigid frame comprising a front post, a rear post spaced from said front post and being substantially longer than said front post, a horizontal brace joining said posts, a step construction joining said posts above said horizontal brace, a second unitary rigid frame having a front post, a rear post, said rear post being spaced from said front post and substantially longer than said front post, a horizontal brace joining said posts, and a step construction joining said posts above said brace, the rear post of said first frame and the front post of said second frame being positioned adjacent each other, and means to connect the upper end of said first named rear post with the second named front post. i

3. A grandstand of the character described comprising a plurality of frames, each frame having a front post and a rear post, the length of the rear post being successive integral multiples of the length of the shortest rear post, a scaffold end frame of a height equal to the length of the longest rear post, means to connect the front post of each frame to the rear post of the frame having the next smallest rear post, and means tol connect and support a frame of the type having a shortest rear post between the top of the longer rear post and the top of the scaffold end frame. l

4. In a grandstand of the character described, a first unitary frame comprising a front post, a rear post, said rear post being substantially longer than said front post, a horizontal support joining said posts adjacent the upper end of said front post, and a horizontal brace joining said posts adjacent the lower end of said front post, a second unitary rigid frame having a front post, a rear post, the rear post being substantially longer than said front post, a horizontal support joining said posts adjacent the upper end of said front post, and a horizontal brace joining said posts adjacent the lower end of said front post, the rear post of said rst frame and the front post of said second frame being positioned adjacent each other, and means to connect the upper end of said rst named rear post with the second named front post.

5. In a grandstand of the character described a first unitary rigid frame comprising a front post, a rear post, said rear post being substantially longer than said front post, and a step construction joining said posts; a second unitary r rigid frame comprising a front post, a rear post,

said rear post being substantially longer than said front post, a step construction joining the posts of said second frame, the rear post of said first frame and the front post of said second frame being positioned adjacent each other, and a connector carried by the front post of said second frame and superimposed on the rear post of said first frame to join the frames into a continuous series of steps.

RICHARD W. PAGE.

JOHN F. RONEY. 

